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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1996)
Sports Tuesday, April 16,1996 Page 10 Derek Samson Championships don’t change Osborne, NU Things have not changed in Me morial Stadium this spring. There are no signs in the stadium calling for a “3-Peat” or somehow playing the slogan “unfinished busi ness” as motivation for the 1996 season. There is no mention of defend ing last year’s national champion ship. There are no proud banners cel ebrating Nebraska’s back-to-back championships in 1970-71 or 1994 95. There are no numbers remem bering the players of the past, par ticularly those from the last two undefeated seasons. But then again, there is no panic inside the stadium either. It doesn’t matter that Nebraska lost Tommie Frazier, its most pro ductive quarterback ever. It doesn’t matter that its phenomenal running back of the last three years could be selected as the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft about the same time the Huskers kick off their spring game Saturday — a game Lawrence Phillips would be playing in if he hadn’t chosen to skip his senior year. For Coach Tom Osborne, noth ing much is different this spring. “It’s been a pretty decent spring other than the fact that we have had a few more pulled muscles than we would normally have,” Osborne said. More pulled muscles? What about winning a third straight national championship, something no team has ever done? What about the need for a quar terback to take control in the spring game? “The spring game can give you a little better assessment to how a player might react in a regular ball game,” Osborne said. “It gives you a better idea than just a normal scrimmage.” But as Osborne embarks on his % 24th season, he doesn’t show any signs of changing this spring. He is no more or no less content than in previous seasons. He is no more or no less anx ious to watch a team try to accom plish a first — three straight titles — than he was to watch a team ac complish his first — Osborne’s 1994 title. We ve always put a lot of em phasis on spring ball and the spring game,” Osborne said. “We’re all just really trying to figure out who can play.” Obviously, it’s the same old spring practices and spring game, despite the different circumstances. And it’s obviously the same old Osborne. “Overall, we’re more encour aged than discouraged by this spring,” he said. Which means the 1996 Huskers will be the same old Nebraska. Samsoa Is a sealor oews-edltortal major aad a Dally Nebraska! sports cod ■ moist. Hit man Scott Bruhn/DN Nebraska center fielder Francis Collins shags a fly ball at practice Monday. Collins, who has a 21-game hitting streak, is batting a team-high .407/ Collins lights Husker fire By David Wilson Staff Reporter Nebraska junior Francis Collins began the season as the sixth out fielder on the Cornhusker depth chart. Now, just two months later, Collins leads Nebraska with a .407 average and has emerged as one of the top lcadoff hitters in the Big Eight. What has Collins done to cause the drastic turnaround? Nothing, he said. “I’m just hitting the ball,” Collins said, “just seeing the ball and hitting it. I’m playing the best I can and giving my all every day.” Against Kansas State last Satur day, Collins went 3 for 5 and ex tended his hitting streak to 21 games — the third-longest in Ne braska history. He also leads the * Huskers with 19 multiple-hit games this season. Collins, whose .407 average ranks among the top five in the con ference, leads the Huskers with a .515 on-base percentage and has swiped a team-high nine stolen bases in 14 attempts. With the Husker pitching staff struggling early in the year, Collins has been one of the other position players to pitch an inning this sea son. Collins worked the eighth in ning on March 29 in the Huskers’ 18-8 loss to Oklahoma State. “Like coach says, it starts and ends with pitching, but we have to hit also,” Collins said. “We have to put runs up to take the pressure off of the pitchers.” A transfer from Canada, (Calif.) Community College, Collins was awarded a medical redshirt last sea son after hitting .360 with 29 runs scored in 1994. And though he has played in only 37 games this sea son with the Huskers, Collins said he enjoyed playing for Nebraska. Senior Eugene Jenkins was slated to be Nebraska’s starting cen ter fielder in February, but has since fallen into a pinch-hitting and pinch-running role. Jenkins, who started 25 games last season while hitting .283, has started just 16 games this season. But Jenkins’ role will be crucial down the stretch as Nebraska rounds out its season by playing 10 of its last 16 games against Big Eight opponents. The Big Eight Tournament will be played May lb 19 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Collins is hitting .426 in 15 games against conference oppo nents this season. Only sophomore Todd Sears’ .444 is higher. “We’re giving it our all and try ing as hard as we can,” Collins said. -----—— • • [I HotHusker bats travel to Kansas By David Wilson Staff Reporter The Nebraska baseball team has not had a problem scoring runs this sea son. The Comhuskers, who average 8.5 mns per game, are led offensively by Meyer two seniors, right fielder Mel Mot ley and left fielder Matt Meyer. Meyer, who ranks first on the team with eight home runs and 48 RBI, will lead the Huskers into ac tion today and Wednesday in Lawrence, Kan. Ne braska, 17-19-1 overall and 6-9 in the Big Eight, will face Kansas at 7 p.m. today and 3 p.m. Wednesday. The Jayhawks are 16-12 overall and tied for last in the conference with Kansas State at 6-12. Meyer has not homered since the Huskers’ 11 -3 victory over Iowa State on March 20 — a 15-game drought. Yet he still ranks among the Big Eight’s top 10 in home runs. On Saturday against Kansas State, Meyer broke a 12-for-50 slump (.240), going 4 for 5 with four RBI against the Wildcats and raising his average to .338 — fourth on the team. Meyer, who singled twice, doubled and tripled, was just a home run short of hitting for the cycle. It s about time, Meyer said. I ve been struggling too much lately. I told myself that I was tired of going 0 for 4 and 1 for 4. It just wasn’t happening for me.” Meyer, who scored three runs Sat urday, also leads the team with 45 runs scored and ranks second with nine doubles. “I’ve been a little bit out in front of the ball, too anxious when the ball comes to the plate. Today, I just took my time and just had a little bit more patience at the plate. It helped a lot.” Through their last eight games, the Huskers have averaged 13 hits and nine runs per game. The Nebraska pitching staff has held opponents to just 53 runs over the eight-game span, in which the Huskers are 7-1. “I think our team is coming together as a whole,” Meyer said. “Our pitch ers are pitching pretty good, and our hitters are hitting pretty good. Com bined, that’s why we’re winning.” After giving up 18 runs to Okla homa State on March 29 and 24 runs to Oklahoma on April 2, the Huskers fell into a last-place tie in the league with Iowa State. “It was tough,” Meyer said. “We won those three games against Oral Roberts, and that gave us a lot of con fidence. It totally changed our ball See KANSAS on 11 Wingback adjusts to position change By Trevor Paries Senior Reporter Shevin Wiggins is happy to show off his skills this spring after sitting out each of the last two seasons. Wiggins came to Nebraska in 1993, but he was unable to to meet NCAA academic requirements and sat out during the 1994 season. Last year, he redshirted while trying to learn the Comhusker offense at wingback. “I ’ve been revved up to play for the last year” Wiggins said. “I’ve really been looking forward to this spring.” A 5-foot-11, 190-pound sopho more, Wiggins followed Tommie Frazier and Tyrone Williams from Manatee High School in Palmetto, Fla., to Lincoln. At Manatee, Wiggins played tailback and was named the Florida offensive player of the year in 1994. In his senior season, he rushed for 2,267 yards and 32 touchdowns. In that season, he set die career and single season rushing records at Manatee. Now, however, Wiggins is no longer at tailback. Wiggins was recruited by former Nebraska linebackers coach Kevin Steele, now with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Steele told Wiggins he was probably going to have to switch positions. Wiggins said the adjustment had been difficult. “It was a big transition,” Wiggins said. “At running back, I was able to get the ball and cut off of somebody’s block. Here, I’m out there and the run ning back is cutting off my block. “I’ve always been able to catch pretty good, so it wasn’t really a prob lem coming in and catching the ball. It was getting used to the patterns and the blocking.” Wiggins has improved a lot this spring in both his pass catching and blocking, receivers coach Ron Brown said. “He’s still learning some things,but the thing I like about him is that he is very physical.” Brown said. “Our wingbacks need to be physical people, and he really likes to go into contact.” In Saturday’s scrimmage, Wiggins showed what he was capable of doing. He ran two reverses for 11 yards and caught three passes for 38 yards. Wiggins said he liked running re verses because they gave him a chance to run the ball as he did in high school. See WIGGINS on 11